VESSEL REVIEW | Seaboard Legend – Germany's AAC adds 1,208TEU methanol-ready feeder ship to fleet

The China Merchants Shipbuilding Industry Group’s Qingdao Shipyard handed over the 1,208TEU feeder container vessel Seaboard Legend (formerly named Johanna Schepers) to German shipping company Arkona Allied Container (AAC) on May 14, 2026.

The vessel has power supply for up to 276 reefer containers and conventional main propulsion designed for possible later adaptation to methanol. A long-term charter with US-based Seaboard Marine was reported at delivery.

Qingdao Shipyard has described the ship as its first container vessel in a new series built for AAC. The yard said six ships in its series had begun undergoing construction when it announced the handover.

The ships were built as part of a feeder project, which itself is a collaboration with Reederei HS Schiffahrt of Haren (Ems), Germany, though ownership of the vessels will remain with AAC. Seaboard Legend is one of 14 methanol-ready feeders included in the project.

Design work on the ship was undertaken by China State Shipbuilding Corporation subsidiary Shanghai Merchant Ship Design and Research Institute.

With space for reefer container carriage

The ship has an LOA of 154.94 metres (508.33 feet) and a beam of 24.5 metres (80.4 feet).

A vessel listing indicated that the ship has an eight-metre (26-foot) draught and a deadweight of 13,700. It also recorded a gross tonnage of 13,719, Portugal as her flag state, and DNV classification.

The cargo arrangement allows eight container rows across the open hold and nine rows on deck. The difference gives the deck one more transverse container position than the hold, a useful detail when assessing the 1,208TEU intake against the vessel’s 24.5-metre beam.

The reported electrical provision can supply up to 276 reefer containers. This is a count of containers that can be powered, distinct from the ship’s total capacity expressed in TEUs. It is also a capability beyond the stated first assignment, which concerned the movement of newly manufactured reefer containers rather than a specified shipment of temperature-controlled cargo.

Conventional propulsion configured for trans-Pacific voyages

A single MAN B&W 6S50ME-C9 main engine with a rated output of 8,200 kW (11,000 hp) gives the vessel a design service speed of 15 knots and a maximum speed of 18 knots. The service speed figure describes the design’s intended working pace; the higher figure is its quoted maximum, not the stated speed for the Seaboard Marine charter.

Three auxiliary engines and shaft generators support the reefer power provision. Shaft generation allows the propulsion machinery to contribute to shipboard electrical supply while the vessel is underway, whereas alongside power is available from the auxiliary sets. The 276-container rating is therefore an electrical capacity as well as a cargo handling specification.

Seaboard Legend has been described as methanol-ready, though her reported as-built arrangement does not include a dual-fuel methanol installation.

In fulfilment of the long-term charter with Seaboard Marine, the ship will carry newly manufactured reefer containers from China to markets in North and Central America, following work undertaken by earlier vessels of the type.